svetikya Chapter 191 Strengthening Preparations
Chapter 191 Strengthening Preparations
Chapter 191 Strengthening Preparations
The oak doors of the Eagle's Nest closed behind him, shutting out the dim light of the corridor and the oppressive atmosphere of the castle. The familiar scent and the warmth from the fireplace instantly enveloped Karen. This familiarity allowed his tense nerves to relax for a moment, but the empty room before him and the silent snowy night outside the window were immediately replaced by a heavier sense of reality—crisis was looming, and he was temporarily alone.
He strode to his desk, pulled out parchment, dipped his quill in ink, and began writing almost without pause. The first letter was to Wesley, the handwriting unusually hurried:
Fabian,
Read this message immediately! Something's happened at Hogwarts!
On Christmas morning, Professor Quirrell's body was found by the Black Lake! The cause of death was the Basilisk's gaze! Yes, the very same monster from the legendary Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin! It had been released!
Headmaster Dumbledore and I tracked it to the entrance of its abandoned lair and even saw its recently shed, terrifyingly large snake skin! But it was cunning; it slipped into the Forbidden Forest through another passage and is now nowhere to be found. Voldemort abandoned that unfortunate Quirrell and went into hiding, his target most likely still the Philosopher's Stone!
The school is now on high alert: solo activities are strictly prohibited, the curfew has been brought forward, all outdoor activities are under stricter management, and alarm bells have been installed all over the castle.
Although the basilisk is most likely still in the Forbidden Forest, you must remain vigilant and watch for any unusual activity! When you return to school...
Make sure you travel with reliable people, don't get lost on the train, and come find me at Eagle's Nest as soon as you arrive at school! I'll try to get something that can ward off the basilisk.
Stay in touch! Wait for my message!
Karen Hawthorne quickly folded the letter and stuffed it into the letterbox on the leg of a restless brown owl on the windowsill—the one he'd asked Phoebus to call. Watching it flap its wings and disappear into the twilight amidst the fine snow, Karen breathed a slight sigh of relief. The letters to Wesley and Ernesto were largely the same, concisely informing them of the Basilisk's reappearance, Quirrell's death, the school's lockdown, and Voldemort's disappearance. They also solemnly reminded them to remain vigilant at home and emphasized that they must return to school in pairs and immediately meet at the eagle's nest upon arrival. These two letters were soon taken away by two other owls. Knowing the truth, at least his companions would be prepared for their return to school, avoiding a headlong rush into an unknown storm.
He walked to the fireplace and took out the exquisite two-way mirror from deep within his pouch. The mirror was cool to the touch; after he channeled magic into it, a halo of light swirled, and Nicolas Flamel's gentle and wise face quickly and clearly appeared against the backdrop of the familiar soft light of the Quiet Abode alchemy workshop.
"Karen?" Nicole's voice was filled with concern. "What's wrong with your complexion?" Mrs. Perenel also appeared behind Nicole, looking at Karen.
"Teacher, Mrs. Perenel," Cullen's voice was weary and tense, "something has happened at Hogwarts. Quirrell is dead."
The cause of death was the basilisk's gaze.
The expressions on the other side of the mirror, Nicole and Mrs. Perenel, both became somewhat serious.
"The Basilisk of Salazar?!" Nico exclaimed in surprise. "It actually exists! It must have lived for nearly a thousand years, and now it's been released?! Voldemort did this?"
"That should be it." Cullen quickly repeated the key information. "Voldemort has abandoned Quirrell, and the Basilisk has now infiltrated the Forbidden Forest without a trace. Headmaster Dumbledore believes that Voldemort may be using the Basilisk to create chaos, with his ultimate goal still being the Philosopher's Stone."
The school is on high alert.
Nico was silent for a few seconds, his brow furrowed, his eyes sharp as knives in the mirror. "Voldemort with the Basilisk is a completely different level of danger," he said slowly, his voice heavy. "Karen, you must arm yourself! The Basilisk's gaze is the greatest weapon. Have you made any preparations?"
Karen then briefly explained the preparations she had made, and Nico listened and nodded.
"Although the items are all simple, they are all highly targeted. You've prepared well, Karen! But you still need to improve," Nico added after listening to Karen's explanation.
"I understand, Professor Nico! I do have some enhancement plans, which I will add later," Karen explained.
"That's good, son. Remember, safety first." Nico's eyes were filled with love and seriousness. "Take care! Keep in touch!"
The mirror's light dimmed. A sense of urgency lashed at Karen's back like a tangible whip. He took a deep breath and strode toward the portable alchemy workshop.
There was no time to hesitate. Karen first grabbed the spare pair of glasses he had modified earlier. Simply weakening the cursed beams wasn't enough to deal with the basilisk. He needed them to see the outline of the heat emanating from its massive body in the darkness, because Karen couldn't use his talent in real time, and he knew that basilisks, like snakes, were cold-blooded. While the infrared signature of cold-blooded animals is weak, large creatures like the basilisk still produce faint infrared radiation, which could still be detected.
He quickly rummaged through the materials shelf: a small pinch of salamander scale powder, extremely sensitive to heat; and other necessary materials. The crucible was set to a precise temperature, and the dark red scale powder dissolved in a special solvent, becoming as viscous as blood. Finely ground moonstone powder, mixed with a few drops of precious unicorn hair stabilizing fluid, formed a serene, silvery-gray paste.
The glasses were carefully secured to a precision rune-etching platform. Karen held his breath, meticulously tracing an array of tiny runes, barely visible to the naked eye, on the inside of the temples. Then, he used a dropper to draw up a dark red, heat-sensitive solution and applied it with extreme precision to the pre-drilled sensor area on the back of the lenses.
The solution rapidly permeated, forming an extremely thin film. Before it completely solidified, the shimmering, silvery-gray moonstone mixture was evenly coated onto the original multi-layered alchemical film that had weakened the curse, becoming a new inlay layer. The lens itself seemed to be veiled by a very faint, almost imperceptible, warm gray mist.
Karen eagerly put on the finished product. She activated the thermal imaging mode. The world before her instantly changed—the leaping flames of the fireplace were no longer just light, but transformed into a bright, shimmering orange-red halo on the lenses. "Next, I can try it on some snakes," she thought.
Next up is the recorder with the rooster's crow that I prepared beforehand. Although I already know that the rooster's crow can only provoke the basilisk, it doesn't matter. What Karen fears most is actually a sneak attack. Once it's provoked, I'm not worried about fighting it head-on. Karen had also learned a simple Fiendfyre spell from the notes given to her by her teacher Castor. It has to be said that the Grindelwald family does have some different insights and techniques regarding Fiendfyre. If she encounters the basilisk alone, she can seize the opportunity to teach it a lesson with Fiendfyre.
As she was thinking, Karen disassembled the prototype and took out the core sound wave simulation crystal. She then selected several resonant buzzing stones that could amplify sound waves of specific frequencies. She designed them inside the base and then etched a complex chain of "magic sensing-triggering-energy conversion-amplification" runes.
After following the design concept and modifying this originally simple recorder step by step.
Karen picked up the finished product, gently flicked a small safety pin on the outer casing, and infused a wisp of magic into the trigger rune—Yi Yu! A sharp, high-pitched sound wave, mimicking the most penetrating and powerful crowing of a grown rooster, instantly erupted! Although weakened by most of the workshop's soundproofing barrier, it still made several small copper nuts on the table vibrate violently; it was practically turning into a sonic attack. In her imagination, this instantaneous burst of enormous noise, targeting the frequency range sensitive to snakes' hearing, would be enough to startle, disorient, or disorient the snake monster at close range, and could even send out a distress signal, buying the wearer those crucial few seconds of life-or-death time.
Finally, there's the method to deal with the poisonous fog. Karen chose to refine disposable alchemical smoke bombs, the core of which is highly effective purifying unicorn horn powder.
The ingredients consist of rue extract that can neutralize toxins and concentrated sneezing herb extract that can instantly generate a large amount of expanding, harmless gas. He mixed the three ingredients in a specific ratio, kneaded them into walnut-sized spheres, etched microscopic trigger runes onto the surface, and finally coated them with a thin, brittle shell that would break upon impact. The finished product was an opaque, pale gold color.
He took out a crystal ball, simulated encountering the poisonous fog, and forcefully slammed it onto an empty metal tray in the workshop—*crack!* The crystal ball shattered! A strong, pale white wave of gas, carrying a refreshing aroma of mint and rue, erupted forth, rapidly spreading to an area about ten feet in diameter. Wherever the wave passed, the lingering odor of the crucibles in the workshop was instantly purified, leaving the air exceptionally fresh. He imagined that this burst of purifying gas, spreading rapidly, could effectively dilute, neutralize, and even temporarily dispel the basilisk's poisonous fog.
As Karen placed the last few pale gold dispelling orbs into his specially designed pouch, the sky outside was filled with stars, and fine snow was falling silently. The fireplace cast a long shadow of his on the table laden with tools and finished products. Three pairs of glasses shimmering with a faint silver-gray luster, three small rooster crowing devices, and twelve pale gold alchemical orbs were neatly arranged, emanating a faint yet reassuring magical fluctuation.
Exhaustion washed over me like a tide, but looking at the finished "spears and shields" in front of me, a heavy sense of security welled up inside me.
He picked up a pair of glasses, put them on, and activated the thermal imaging mode. The lenses immediately reflected the flickering orange-red core of the fireplace flames and the cold, blurry blue background of the snow falling outside the window. He then picked up a buzzer, tracing the hard outline beneath the dragon's hide with his fingertips, feeling the explosive power contained within its small body.
He was alone in the Eagle's Nest, so quiet he could hear the crackling of the burning wood in the fireplace. His companions were still in their warm homes, perhaps only vaguely aware of the impending storm. But Karen knew that when their vacation ended and they returned, the eye of the storm would be waiting for them.
He walked to the window and gazed at the silent castle covered in snow, the outline of the Forbidden Forest in the distance resembling a lurking beast in the night.